


Oh God Oh God I Need You Here

by Krasimer



Series: Dreams of You 'Verse [7]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Falling In Love, I will always find you, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-04 16:59:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1786453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And then there was more.</p><p>(Things are starting to pick up speed.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No One Told Us

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so my notes are at the beginning this time because I must warn you about the mentioned Mpreg. It isn't going to happen in the current time, and it is just me taking advantage of the different species thing. 
> 
> If it bugs you, it's not really important to the story and you can just skip the first part of this chapter.

Thomas sighed as he watched William speaking with both of their nephews.

He knew that it was a bad time to be focusing on it, knew that this was quite possibly the worst thing to be thinking about right now, but he had to know why William tensed up every time Frodo's parents were brought up. If he had been speaking about the boy in the present tense, in the here and now, he would have understood the reason for the panicked look in his boyfriend's eyes.

Frode's parents had been slaughtered by the creature, Gollum, less than two weeks ago.

Frodo's parents were another matter, however. Davina had brought it up first, and the question had circled around his mind ever since. Why did Frode, even now, look like a mixture of his uncle and a man he had only just met?  
In their bed, the night that Davina had mentioned it, William had confirmed that Frode followed the pattern of looking like his past self.

So, the question currently sticking in Thomas's mind was thus:

If Frodo had looked like an exact mixture of himself as a dwarf and William as Bilbo and had never really looked like his own parents, what was the cause of it?

As if he could hear Thorin's thoughts, Bilbo looked up and across the room at him, smiling softly before tucking his curls back behind his ear. His cheeks were flushed from laughing, and his eyes were bright. When he spotted the dark look on his boyfriend's face, however, the smile drooped a little, and he ducked his head down as he scurried into the kitchen and started clattering around.

Standing from his spot on the stairs, Thomas scrubbed a hand through his hair, tromping across the room and coming up behind William as he stood at the stove.

"You said that there was a story you needed to tell me."

William turned, spatula that he had taken from Bartholemew in his hand, and frowned. "There is, I'm afraid."

"What is this story about?" Thoughts of betrayals and hatred that had not been true following them through the years bombarded his mind, terror clutching tightly at his heart. "Is it something you have kept from me because of the monster I acted as?"

"I-" William cut himself off, looking down and stirring the food in the pan. "In a way." He swallowed hard, his free hand clutching the handle of the over door tightly as he breathed carefully through his nose.

Thomas watched him, willing the panic in his mind to calm down. "What have you kept from me?"

"When the adventure was over," William shook his head, then nodded slowly, once. "I went back to the Shire and it was as if someone else had taken my place. I felt as a changeling, something miserable and different tucked into the skin of a person, an impostor in my own home." He met Thomas's eyes. "I was bereft and at a loss for what else to do, you must understand that. I could not stand to be reminded of you, the one I had lost, the dwarf king who had me. Heart, body, and soul. I loved you then, as I love you now. You must understand that, please."

Wrapping his hands around William's waist, he tucked his chin into the smaller man's shoulder. "As I love you, by all the stars in the sky, by all the days and years our lives have been privy to. I would love you even if you had actually committed the betrayal I once accused you of."

"That's..." William smiled, the happiness of it actually reaching his eyes. "There is a reassurance in that, thank you."

"So, my burglar, what is it you have to tell?"

Breathing out through his nose once more, William turned his head away. "You had an heir."

"Of course. Dis had two sons."

"No."

Pulling back, Thomas stepped to William's side so that he could draw his chin upwards. "Explain?"

"That is, of course, what I mean to say is-" William removed his hand from the handle, running it through the curls that had flopped down and around his eyes. "Frodo was your son."

Thomas choked.

William set the spatula down on the stove, far enough away from the heat that it wouldn't melt. "Oh, bother and damn it!" he muttered, leaning against the counter. "Hobbits of the Shire were taught to be aware of the possibility of a male who could bare a child. I was one such hobbit, and then you and I..." he made an awkward motion with his hands, then shrugged helplessly at Thomas, whose jaw felt like it was scraping the ground. "I didn't know until I was residing with the elves of Rivendell on my journey back home and then I was several months along and apparently I went through the battle that caused your death with a child inside of me."

Still staring, Thomas blinked rapidly, trying to speak.

"And then I bore that child and that child looked so much like you that I went home with him and left him in the care of my cousin, Drogo, and I had Primula say that he was her son and they had been trying so desperately for a child of their own that they were happy to take him in and he was only a few months old when they met him and they raised him and I watched our son grow up from afar and then they drowned and he was sent back to me." William took a deep breath, fear crossing his face, etching worried lines around his eyes and mouth. "I was so afraid he would know, would ask me why I gave him up. So I raised him the rest of the way and I had him call me his uncle and it seems right that the truth of it follows me even now."

"You bore my child."

William looked up at him, heart-wrenching terror in his eyes. "Am I so awful to you now?"

When Thomas didn't answer, William sighed and turned back to the pan of food, stirring it hurriedly. "If you want to leave, you may. I wouldn't hold you against your will if you- Urk!"

He cut off again as Thomas dragged him close, wrapping his thick arms around William and holding him tightly. One hand blindly seeking the smaller man's hair, Thomas pressed their foreheads together, almost sobbing as the words came out in sharp bursts of breath. "You bore my child, even after you had to withstand my hatred for something I did to myself. You, my Bilbo, my burglar, are amazing and incredible and I wish I had been there for you to watch our son grow and become."

Seeking William's lips, he kissed him. "If I had been less of a fool, not so much a monster of a king, less mad for the gold that brought ruin to my family, I would have been able to watch you grow heavy with our son and then bare my child into the world."

"Still," William panted, scooting around a little until he was sitting on the counter instead of pressed into the edge of it and wrapping his arms and legs around Thomas. "I..."

"You have nothing to apologize for. Perhaps he would have been better off raised amongst the dwarves, but you and he would not have had me to explain your presence there and you would have suffered for it." Thomas pulled back just enough to be able to see his face clearly, stroking the soft skin of William's face.

Behind them, someone cleared their throat. When they both turned to look at him, they spotted Bartholemew standing there, eyebrows raised. "So are we actually going to be getting grouped up and discussing things tonight, or are you two going to be in here all evening?"

William flushed a deep red color as he tucked his face into Thomas's shoulder, the larger of the two tangling his hand back in the curls before scooping William off the counter and moving back to allow Bartholemew near the stove. "Can you finish up in here?"

"Aye, I can do that." Shooing them out of the room, Bartholemew laughed. "I was wondering when yeh two would talk about what was bothering yeh."

 

XxXxX

 

William sighed, rubbing at the space between and underneath his eyes.

Hosting a large number of Dwarves-turned-Human was a bit of a fuss, but it didn't matter so much. The memories that were flooding back into his brain were the main issue.

Watching all of them wander around his home made him smile, but at the same time, it was almost overwhelmed by the scent of blood and the sound of metal against metal. When he shifted to meet Thomas's eyes, he could remember a tight clenching of arms around him, bare feet struggling to keep him standing after a hard journey, an apology that he had never expected to receive.

He remembered being Bilbo Baggins, small and soft and in love with a King who had gone mad and never returned to him.

A rush of warmth surged through him as he smiled, Thomas's arms around his waist from where he had been pulled into the bigger man's lap. This time seemed to be alright, if only because Thorin had lost the ability to be entranced by gold.

William feared what would happen if he found the treasure trove of gold again.

"Bilbo?"

Thomas's deep voice in his ear made him shiver, pressing closer into his arms. "Just thinking about some things." he murmured, nuzzling into Thomas's jaw, "Wondering what is going to happen now."

There was a pause, then Thomas's nodded at Demetrius, stood up with William in his arms, and strode out of the room, barely avoiding one of the nephews running around the room. When they reached the hallway, William was allowed to set his feet on the ground.

"Do you still..." Thomas bit his lip, looking at the floor as he tried to speak. "Do you still fear me?"

For a moment, William considered the question, pursed lips and lowered eyebrows.

"I don't fear you." he started, trying to keep breathing calmly. "I fear what would happen if that creature found you and returned the Arkenstone to you. I fear what would happen if you were returned to your seat of stone and given back your gold. But I do not fear you."

Thomas met his eyes, then turned away again.

"And if you do not stop wallowing in your guilt, Thorin Oakenshield, I will smack you with a book."

Unable to help it, Thorin laughed, shoulders shaking as he tried to contain it. "Are all of the smallest from back then going to be book-related-object wielders? You threaten me with a book, Oliver defended himself with a book-stand. I can only hope that Faran and Kaden do not learn the secrets of fighting like that."

"They would be unholy little terrors with books..." William smiled, then laughed as well. "You have to admit that it's a good weapon."

Thomas pulled him closer, one hand going into his hair. "Books are the best weapons."

"...Did you really just make that reference?"

Smirking, Thorin nuzzled the rampant curls under his chin, humming in contentment. "What? I'm not allowed to make a Doctor Who reference?"

"It's strange to hear you making it. You could even say," William bit his bottom lip, then grinned. "You could even say it's Ood."

"Bad pun." Thomas rolled his eyes. "Bad bad bad pun. No more Doctor Who for you. No more sci fi for you. You are banned from watching anything else of the sort."

"You started it!" William laughed, a full and hearty sound that resonated around the room. A contented sigh slipped out of his mouth as he let Thorin drag his hands through his hair. "...Is it quite awful of me to be having trouble distinguishing between Thorin and Thomas?"

The larger man's arms tightened around him for a brief moment, the feeling of a sharp nose being tucked into his hair doing far more for his comfort than anything else at the moment.

"I would think," Thomas breathed "That it depends on how little you think of me having the same trouble with you."

 

XxXxX

 

The smaller man whose bed he shared was still just as entrancing as he had always been.

Thorin smiled as he watched Bilbo sleep, soft face scrunching up in reaction to something in his sleep. Feeling his heart clench, he ran a hand across William's shoulder, leaning forward to press his lips to the sleep-warmed skin of his forehead. The weight of the man laying across his arm felt right, and if he looked carefully in the light of the stars and the moon shining through the window, the color of his hair was a shimmering gold that stood out in the darkness.

('Always obsessed with gold' his mind whispered. 'Possessed by it, even.')

A sound outside the bedroom door made him turn, a frown forming before he realized that the door was opening slowly, revealing the small shape of Frode.

The boy looked at them for a few seconds, then closed the door just as quietly as he had opened it, footsteps sounding softly as he walked away. A minute later, a door could be heard closing as he went back to his room. Ignoring the blaringly bright green of the numbers on the clock, Thomas shifted down the bed slightly, wrapping his free arm around William's waist, resting his nose in the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent of him.

(Because he's got deft little burglar fingers wrapped around his heart, keeping him grounded and aware and alive.)

Snuffling slightly, William curled in closer as he slept, one hand flopping into the dark waves of hair that dragged over Thomas's shoulder.

(And maybe his obsession with this kind of gold, this particular treasure, is what will keep him from ruin instead of leading to it.)

 

In the morning, he woke to find the bed empty except for himself, but he could hear the noises of his former hobbit shuffling around and talking to someone, so he figured that the empty space was due to the small man's need to eat a large breakfast. If he were to go downstairs right now, he'd probably find the man in a robe, a large mug of something hot and aromatic either in his hand or on the counter. Likely, he'd also find Frode, sitting at the table and speaking with his uncle or one of the dwarves. 

The entire scene speaks of family, of comfort and warmth and happiness and it almost makes his heart ache to know that it's something he can have.

If he's honest with himself, that's all that he actually wants in the morning.

Thomas grinned as he sat up, running a hand over the spot William had been laying in and finding it to still have fading traces of warmth to it. As he got dressed in something a bit more presentable than just his boxers, he listened to the sound of his family waking up and congregating in one room.

Mixed in with the familiar voices is Smaug's, and it will likely take a good long while before he's alright with that.

(Maybe never, although he's willing to try for William's sake.)

As he stepped off the bottom stair and turned into the dining room, he was met with the sight of his friends and family jostling for room around the slightly too small table, and was surprised to find that Smaug even fit into the picture. As a man, the beast had dark hair that looked almost like Frode's, and as he helped William prepare food for the entire group of people, he looked almost happy.

William noticed him first, leaving his temporary post by the stove and wrapping a hand around to the back of Thomas's head, nudging their foreheads together with a smile. "Good morning."

"Apparently you've tamed a dragon." Thomas nuzzled in closer, just slightly, and was rewarded with William's smile growing bigger and a pink color flushing his cheeks. "Have I woken too late for breakfast?"

Laughter shaking his chest, Bilbo rolled his eyes, turning to grab a plate off the counter and handing it to him. "Dwarves." he pouted, but the look in his eyes was all fondness. Turning back to the stove, he ruffled a hand through the hair of the three nephews sitting in a row as he passed them.

Kaden dragged a chair out, looked at his uncle, then grinned. "Are you going to sit and eat, or are you just going to stare at William all morning?"

"Impatient child." Thomas muttered as he sat down, looking at the table of family and friends.

 

XxXxX

 

Leafing through the book that Nicholas had brought back with him, Bilbo sighed, pointing something out to Oliver. "That seems a bit odd."

Oliver tugged the book closer, reading down the page until he got to where the bit William had pointed out met the rest of the words. "It does, yeah. Doesn't seem like it fits in with the rest."

"Bits of this keep seeming like that." Leaning forward, Bilbo ran his finger down the page, humming when he found a bump in the paper that reached across the entire page. "Ah-ha!" he muttered, carefully prising a fingernail under the edge of it, lifting gently and revealing an entire section that had been hidden. "I guess the pages being pressed together for so long might have done this to several sections like this."

"Might have," Oliver chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, scanning the newly revealed section. "Oh, alright."

"Hmm?"

"Right here," Oliver ran a finger down the page again, nodding. "Now this all lines up, and it's talking about- Oh." His eyes growing wide, Oliver reared back from the book, removing his hands. "Oh!"

Bilbo looked at the page, his own eyes going wide. "That's not good."

"What's not good?" Bartholemew looked over at the two of them from his seat at the other end of the table, one of the few spaces that was not completely covered in paper and notes the two had written. "What have yeh found lads?"

Oliver looked up at the older man, then turned the book towards him, reciting from the pages " 'The heart of a mountain, if displaced from it's home, brings ill fortune to all who seek it.' And while we knew that, it also talks about imbuing the person who carries the damn thing with a strength that, according to the book, 'Will not be known to man.' So basically, it gives whoever carries it supernatural strength on top of whatever powers they already had." he turned to William, a daunted look on his face. 

"Did Frodo ever tell you how strong Gollum was when he faced him?"

"No," William began, then waved away the slump of Oliver's shoulders. "But he didn't have to."

"What?" Balin looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. The effect was nothing less than two angry white caterpillars aiming for his eyes. "Why not?"

"Because he wasn't the first to face Gollum." Taking a deep breath, Bilbo scrubbed at his face with one hand. "I was. And yes, he was very strong. Strong enough to kill a Goblin with his hands and a stone. And that was after he'd dragged it across a lake to his...I hesitate to say home, but that might be what he called it."

"Is that where you got the ring?" Balin's eyebrow arched this time, the caterpillar effect happening once more. "Frode mentioned it being yours."

"It is, yes." Bilbo looked down at his hands, then sighed, shoving one of them into his hair. "I got it from Gollum, I passed it along to Frodo. I'm probably one of, if not the main reason, one of the reasons we're in this mess in the first place."

Ori shook his head. "I'm fairly certain that the Dwarven kings unearthed the Arkenstone before you were born, so it's not entirely your fault. You're probably only at fault for Frode being here, and maybe yourself."

"And Frodo's group." Bilbo muttered miserably. "Sam, Merry, Pippin, and then my boy."

"...Your boy?" Ori tilted his head, frowning. "What do you mean?"

Tensing up, Bilbo shook his head. "Not something relevant to right now, not something we need to discuss just yet." He shot a look across the room to the door, then at the clock. "It's not a pressing matter, and if it need be discussed, we will, but not right at this moment."

Before Ori could reply, a noise almost like a cat being strangled sounded at the side of the house, Bilbo immediately jerking around towards it, watching the window carefully. Balin glanced up as well, a worried look on his face. When he went to speak, Bilbo shook his head, a finger to his lips as he stood and pulled his mother's knife from his pocket.

Sneaking over to the window, Bilbo pressed his back to the wall, looking out the window at an angle, taking care not to reveal himself to whatever might be out there. With a whoosh of air, he let out the breath he'd been holding. "It's just a cat fight." he assured the other two, tucking the knife back into his pocket, then looking at the rest of the alley carefully. "There's nothing out there but a couple of cats."

Ori started breathing again, chest heaving. "Alright then. That was a tense moment. Back to the book?"

"Yeah," Bilbo nodded at him. "Back to the book."

The following burst of cellphone noise made all three of them shriek, Bilbo clutching at his chest as Ori fell out of his chair and Balin gasped for air. As Oliver scrambled to retrieve his phone, William laughed, more out of nerves than any actual amusement. 

"Who the hell sets their ringtone as that?"

Oliver made a face at him, sticking out his tongue. "I happen to like classical music, thank you."

"There's classical, laddie," Bartholemew still sounded out of breath. "And then there's badly timed. 'Danse Macabre' is the second of those two."

Waving him off, Oliver stood and sighed. "Hey Demetrius. What's going on?"

As his face got worried, William frowned again, eyebrows lowering. "Oliver?"

"No, slow down Dwalin, you're going a little too fast." Oliver's eyes widened as he made a face. "Dwal- No, seriously, slow the hell down. Calm down, take a deep breath, tell me. Your accent is going thick because you're worried, and the result is something neither God nor Man could understand." Going silent, Oliver frowned.

"What do you mean, Thomas is gone?"

 

XxXxX


	2. Thranduil's Interlude

If it weren't for the fact that his son keeps coming home with stories about his newest friend, he's fairly certain that he would never have remembered.

He remembers now, however.

He's shamed, in fact, by the actions of his past self towards those he now remembers. There had been little justification for what had been done to them at his hands. He'd tormented them for the sake of his own amusement, as a way of getting underneath the Dwarven King's skin.

Drawing himself up behind his desk, he sighs, toying with a pen he found laying near his elbow. "The folly of our past..." he murmurs as he idly clicks the end of it, focusing on nothing as he frowns. Ignoring, for the moment, the flicker of memory associated with the nearly white hair pulled back in a neat tail at the back of his head, he sighs deeply and lets the pen drop from his fingers.

"Do not speak to me of Dragon's fire." he whispers, standing up and crossing the room to look out the window at the city below him. 

He's heard the warnings of those he trusts with his recollections, he knows that there's something rising back to power in the city surrounding him and his son. One of them, a red headed woman with a fondness for archery, had told him that a creature had been spotted lurking in the shadows. 

"I have heard of one," he scans the streets he can see, eyes narrowing as he spots a group of people gathering together on the sidewalk near the hospital, as if they're visiting someone. "But where is the other?"

As if he can hear the man's words, one of them looks up, meeting his eyes despite the fact that there's glass and distance between the two of them. 

The other's golden eyes narrow as well, one slender eyebrow raised in question as he shepherds the group into the building in front of him. A protective hand, the one not in a sling, rests on the shoulder of what looks to be a young boy.

His own brow rising, Fionnbharr watches the group disappear, then turns to his desk again, summoning the secretary sitting just outside of his office. "I will be taking my lunch early today. If you could reschedule the meeting at four? I don't think I'll be returning for the rest of today."

"Yes sir!" comes the voice across the intercom, pausing before speaking again. "What do you want me to do about your son's arrival later today?"

"I'll be visiting someone in the hospital," he looked out the window again, "Tell him to find me there."

 

The short trip across the street blurs in his memory as he steps into the waiting lobby of the hospital, the sharp scent of anti-bacterial lotion hitting his nose unpleasantly. Signing in at the desk ahead of him is the group he had seen from his window.

The tall, thin man with dark hair and yellow eyes spots him first, turning away as if in shame, but the boy with dark hair smiles almost shyly. "Hello Mister Lundgren!"

Turning to one of the others, a man who looks painfully familiar in a way, the boy speaks with him for a moment before coming over to him. Looking at him now, Fionnbharr almost recognizes him, and he's still not sure which life is the cause. "Do I know you?"

"Only sort of," the boy assures him, sticking out a hand. "I'm Frode Bernherdt, I go to school with Tristram."

"You go to school with my son." Fionnbharr smiles, then nods. "Who are you visiting?"

One of the others, an older boy with blonde hair, comes forward and puts a hand on Frode's shoulder. "We're visiting my uncle's cousin," he explained, pushing one of the braids in his hair out of the way. "But I get the feeling that you don't really want to know about our lives."

The other dark haired boy steps forward, having followed at the blonde's heels. "I think you might have some questions about a different life, Thranduil."

Frode's grin almost scares him when they all at once look at him as he nods. "I was wondering if that was Legolas." the boy whispers, then turns back to the group, pushing the other two away. "I think you might need to come with us. Uncle told me about you a couple of times, and I think that one of the reasons we all have issues with each other is because none of us actually talked to anyone back then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point I am flying by the seat of my pants on chapter plans, the characters are adding their own plot, and I have no idea how long this is going to be.
> 
> But here, have another character's interlude being added to the mix!


	3. I Will Not Fall Without You

Oliver looked worriedly at William, whose face had gone pale and his eyes empty.

"William." he tried cautiously, setting the phone on the table, then leaning across it to reach for the smaller man. "William?"

"Lad?"

Oliver frowned, then curled his hands into fists. "Bilbo!"

The man started, breathing heavily, shaking as he leaned against the table. "He's gone?"

"Bilbo, you need to listen to me." Ori squared his shoulders, then nodded. "Dwalin and Thorin were going to be at Frode's school today, to bring him home safely after class ended. They're not going to be able to do so."

"What happened?" Bilbo looked at him, met his eyes after a few seconds. "What happened to him?"

"Something snuck up behind them," Ori shook his head when William tried to speak again. "I need you to write me a note now, because school gets out in about half an hour and I need to retrieve Frode so that nothing happens to him. While I'm gone, You and Balin should start calling people back home so that we can be gathered in one general area."

Balin nodded, reaching for his own phone. "Aye, I will do that."

"Thank you." Ori turned back to Bilbo, grabbing the man's wrist and steadying him slightly. "I know it feels like the world is ending, that's how it always feels when the rug is yanked out from underneath you and something happens to the one you love."

Taking a deep breath, he continued. "But you aren't lost without him. He doesn't make you whole, he just makes you feel better about the world around you. You love him, he loves you, but you don't need him to stay on your feet." Ori licked his lips, then nodded. "You were a bachelor for years, Bilbo, and then you were fierce as anything when it came to it. I need you to fight right now, I need you to be as much of a warrior as you can be. It's the only way that we're getting Thorin back, and you need to realize that and not fall apart."

Bilbo whimpered for a second, then let out a slow even breath. Nodding once, he reached over the table for a piece of paper and a pen. "Here," he muttered, "Is a note so you can get my nephew back here without an issue."

"Yeh will need a weapon, laddie." Balin cut in, still scrolling through his phone and texting at a fairly rapid pace.

Ori grinned, then ducked into the kitchen, returning with a rolling pin. "This should do."

"Aye, that should." Balin nodded, a smirk on his face. "Be safe."

"Lock the door behind me." Ori cautioned, tucking the hefty wooden tool into his bag. "I'll be back soon."

 

When he got to the school, Ori was nearly slammed into by a fairly tall boy with a round face, just barely managing to keep himself upright.

"Sorry!" the boy managed to squeak out, "I just need to get back to my friend, he's being an idiot and apparently there's a thing happening and he told me to grab his bag and now he's alone an-"

"What's your friend's name?" Ori frowned, rubbing absently at his side, where the bag the boy was holding had hit him. "Would it happen to be Frode?"

"Yessir! He's doing something that he said was awful dangerous and- and-" The boy gestured helplessly, trying to push past Ori. "I need to get back to him!"

"Lead the way, I'm supposed to pick him up from school today, his uncle sent me." Ori explained as he followed after, glad to see that the boy wasn't arguing against the presence of an adult.

"C'mon!" he squeaked, running faster as a noise echoed across the empty school courtyard. "I left him by the bushes over there, he said something was in them."

"What's your name, by the way?"

"Sam, sir," the boy spared a glance for him, breathing heavily. "I don't think I'm meant to be runnin' this much."

"Alright Sam, I'm Oliver." Ori rested a hand on his shoulder, pulling the bag from his hands. "I'll hold this for now, alright?"

"Thank you!" Sam panted out, then picked up a little more speed, nearly slamming into the fence as he screeched to a halt. Ori snagged the back of his shirt just in time to prevent a bloody nose, dragging him back even further as he saw what it was that Frode had sent his friend away from. "Frodo?"

"I'm here!" the boy called, the bushes rustling as they produced a snarling hiss of sound. "Please tell me you have my backpack!"

"It's right here, Sam got it for you." Ori held it out as Frode came scrambling out of the leaves, a couple of scratches on his face and arms, one of them still bleeding sluggishly. The boy took it, riffling through it quickly until he found what he was looking for.

Unwinding the length of rope, Frode looked at Sam. "And this will be explained in a bit."

"Take your time," Sam huffed, leaning over to rest his hands on his knees. "I expect you have a good enough reason."

Frode smiled brightly at his friend, cheeks pinking a little. "Alright." he nodded once, then disappeared back into the bush, re-emerging from it a little while later.

This time, there was a scratch over one of his eyes, and the cut on his arm was still bleeding, but he looked accomplished. "He's not going to come after us for a little while."

"...Smaug is going to feel ashamed that you were able to take him out, but he wasn't." Ori stifled a laugh as he picked Frode's backpack up again. "I'm going to head to the office to sign you out, you're going to follow me so that nothing else can happen, and I don't know what you're going to tell Sam, but I think you might know."

Frode met his friend's eyes, then looked at the ground. "Well," he began as they all started to walk towards the school office. "There's some things I really have to tell you."

 

Ori watched as Frode walked beside him, humming happily. "So he believes you?"

"Sam's good about things that seem weird to everyone else." Frode grinned, brushing some of his black curls behind his slightly pointed ear. "He always has been. Even back then, he followed me to what would probably have seemed like certain death to everyone else. He just saw it as a way to follow me everywhere."

"So he's always been loyal to you." Ori smiled, hiding it behind his hand, then stopped Frode from picking at the bandage on his arm. "I meant what I said earlier, Smaug didn't manage to take Gollum down, and you just left him tied up in a bush next to your school."

Frode shrugged. "I just remembered everything he had done. The fact that he attacked Sam sometimes when we traveled with him, the fact that he killed my parents...I used it as motivation, I-I guess." he trembled suddenly, then shuddered. "I just tied up Gollum and attacked him first. I saw him and I was hanging out with Sam and I just couldn't-"

"You didn't want to think about what would happen if he got Sam." Ori filled in, raising an eyebrow. "How much does Sam mean to you?"

The fourteen year old's face turned a brilliantly red color, eyes focused on his toes as he stuttered and mumbled his way through a few words that Ori couldn't quite hear. "Alright then," Ori took pity, "We need to stop at the house to grab your uncle and Balin, then we need to head to the hospital."

"What's at the hospital this time?" Frode looked up so quickly that Ori was surprised he wasn't dizzy. "Who got hurt?"

"Dwalin got hurt." Ori shrugged, then rubbed nervously at the back of his neck. "Your uncle's boyfriend got grabbed by someone, and apparently Dwalin didn't see who it was. Or he might have, but we don't know for sure. We're going to grab his brother and your uncle, then go see him and ask him if there's anything else he knows."

"He probably didn't tell the people at the hospital because what we're dealing with is a little scarier than they could handle." Frode muttered, nodding at his own wisdom.

Ori patted his head for a second, leaning slightly closer to look at his ear. "You and your uncle both have slight points."

"So did my parents." Frode mumbles, meeting the man's eyes. "Thank you for coming to get me from school today. I'm not sure that Sam would have been as calm about things if there weren't someone else backing me up on this."

"Do you really think that," Ori grinned, "Or are you just playing a game of 'Make the adult feel useful'?"

Frodo bit at his lip, then grinned back. "I might be doing a bit of both."

"You little brat." Ori said fondly, mussing up the boy's curls.

 

When they got back to the house, Bilbo wrapped both of his arms around Frodo, a sigh of relief escaping him as he hugged the boy. "You're alright, oh gracious, you're alright."

"I'm fine, uncle." Frodo muttered, resting his head against the man's shoulder, smiling. "Sam and Ori made sure of that."

Bilbo pulled back for a moment, a frown changing his face. "After this is all over, we are going to have to speak about some things."

Ori watched the both of them, then turned to Balin. "Do we know what Bilbo's referring to? There's the big secret about something to do with Frodo and Thorin and Bilbo and I have an idea as to what it might be, bu-"

"Lad," Balin began, a smile on his face. "There are some things we cannae talk about just yet."

Just as Ori opened his mouth to demand an explanation, his brothers came through the door, followed by the members of the Ur family, cutting short any possibility of further discussion as Balin strode over to them and away from him.

Within an hour, they were arriving at the hospital, congregating on the sidewalk in preparation to enter and find Dwalin.

"Alright, so we've got everyone?" Balin looked over the group, eyes sliding carefully away from Oin as he counted the heads of people surrounding him, briefly muttering to Smaug about something the former-dragon had seen. With one last look upwards, yellow eyes almost shining, Smaug herded them into the hospital, a calming hand on Frodo's shoulder when the boy started hyperventilating.

Ori reached for Frodo, resting his hand on the boy's other shoulder. "It's alright," he smiled reassuringly as they passed into the building, the rest of the group surrounding Frodo and nudging Bilbo towards him so that the hobbits were in the middle of the party.

Once they were in the lobby, Ori lead the way to the front desk, flashing a smile at the nurse behind it. "Hey, so I'm looking for Demetrius Ingles, he would have been admitted today?"

"Yeah," the nurse nodded, typing a few things and clicking around her screen for a moment. "May I ask your relation to him?"

"I'm his boyfriend, and," he turned, motioning Balin forward. "This is his brother."

The nurse's face lit up, her smile turning sweeter. "Aww. Alright, just give me a moment."

Nodding, Ori looked away from the desk, only to see Frodo approaching a man with almost white hair, dressed in a suit that probably cost more than he would make in a year. "Bilbo?"

"He talked to me about this, don't worry." the man assured quietly, keeping an eye on his nephew. "Apparently, that looks like someone he used to know, and Smaug saw him watching us a few minutes ago from an office window across the street."

"Sir?" The nurse smiled at him again when she caught his attention. "I'm just going to need you to sign your name here," she indicated a sheet on a clipboard. "And I'm going to have to insist that only six people go into the room at a time. He's not doing too badly, but his doctor would like to keep stress down to a minimum."

Ori smiled back, leaning down to sign the paper, then passing it around to the rest of the group before taking one of the stickers from the sheet she offered forward and sticking it to his chest. "Thank you." he drew away from the desk, allowing the other visitors to sign in as well.

When he started down the hallway, he was only a little surprised to find the man in the suit was following along.

 

XxXxX

 

Dwalin sighed when he heard the commotion of the rest of the group outside the door, turning to Ori and pressing their heads together, running a hand through the soft red hair. "How in the hell of it do I explain that I lost his love?" he muttered, keeping a sideways gaze focused on Bilbo, just outside the door. "How-"

"Shhh, Dwalin." Ori soothed, peppering his face with soft kisses, avoiding the nasty looking bruises swelling around his eyes. "You'll have me on hand to do that with you. What even happened?"

"We were headin' ta get Frodo," he started, then shrugged. "I heard growling from behind us, and that sounded kinda familiar, but before I could turn around, something had hit me over the head and knocked me fer a loop. By the time I got back up, Thorin was gone and so was whatever had taken him."

"Growling?" Ori thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing is immediately coming to mind. It feels like it should be, but there's just a block..."

Dwalin ran a thumb over Ori's cheek, smiling fondly at him, then turning to look at the door. "Would yeh mind grabbing a few of them so that they come talk to me instead a' hangin' around outside the door?"

"Of course." Ori smiled, hooking their fingers together a moment before stepping away and leaning out into the hallway to alert the others. When he came back into the room, a tall man with expensive clothing followed, a nervous look on his face as he took in who was on the bed in front of him.

"I have been speaking with young Frodo about some things," he began quietly, looking around the room as the others filed in behind him. "Apparently Thorin has gone missing?"

Frowning, Dwalin narrowed his eyes at the man, as if he could get answers from him by wiggling his eyebrows in a menacing way. "And who are yeh?"

Balin rolled his eyes, smacking his little brother softly upside the head. "King Thranduil, brother. Less of a king, now that we're in a different age, but of the same sort, I'd expect. Nothing less for the blood of a royal line."

The man nodded, his hands clasped together behind his back. "My name, in this time and age, is Fionnbharr Lundgren. My son is Tristram." He stepped back slightly to allow Frodo to flop himself into the chair next to the bed. "He goes to school with Bilbo's nephew, and it is because of him that I remember. He has recently made a new friend."

"What do yeh mean, a new friend?" Dwalin made a face, looking towards his brother. "Do yeh-?"

Balin shook his head, then turned to Oin.

Before he could even voice the question, Gildas spoke up, a surprised look on his face. "I think you must mean Gilroy."

Thranduil turned to him, an equally surprised look on his face. "That is exactly who I speak of. My son and Gilroy have been hanging around each other recently, and it sparked the resurgence of memories. How do you know the boy?"

"The boy is my son." Gildas said, eyes wide. "I don't know if he remembers or not, but if what you're saying is right, he may very well. I'm going to...I think I'm going to call him." he almost went too quiet to hear on the last words, already heading for the door, followed by his brother, both of them muttering about Gilroy.

Frodo watched them go, then looked at Thranduil. "Alright, so I think Gilroy is Gimli, then. Tristram is Legolas, Fionnbharr is Thranduil, and we're all just a little bit less confused now." he turned to Dwalin and Ori. "Now. How do you think we should go about getting Uncle Thorin back?"

"Uncle Thorin?" Thranduil looked at him, an eyebrow arched in an almost perfect curve. "I was not aware that you were related to him. Would you not have gone on the journey to reclaim Erebor if you were?"

"I wasn't born yet," Frodo shrugged, then leaned out of the chair a little to look out the door at his uncle. "And he's kind of dating my dad's brother, so he's my uncle's boyfriend and I can deal with calling him Uncle Thorin as well as King Thorin and Uncle Thomas. Anyways, back to getting him back." he turned to Dwalin again, blue eyes focused intensely.

Dwalin squirmed under the teenager's gaze, about to open his mouth to explain that Thorin was grabbed by someone or some thing, but Radagast chose that moment to burst into the room, eyes wide and fearful.

"I need to know," he panted, bent at the waist as he tried to breathe. "Have any of you run into a man named...Oh, dread, I've forgotten." he stood up straight, eyebrows drawn tight and mouth working slightly as he tried to remember.

Following at a more sedate pace, Gandalf walked in behind him, a blonde teenage boy trailing in his wake. "The name you're looking for, Radagast," he smiled at the man. "Is Eachann. We will introduce him later, however, as now is a time for telling them what we know of Thorin and his location."

"Where the hell have you two been?"

Startled, everyone in the room turned to look towards the door, where Bilbo stood, one hand clenched around the frame so tightly his knuckles were white. Teeth bared, the short man stomped closer to the wizards, both of them looking slightly nervous as Bilbo moved in.

"You two disappeared for days, you pop back up out of the blue with no explanation, you act as if nothing is wrong, and you already know that Thorin is missing when we just found out today." Bilbo waved off Ori's hand on his shoulder, an attempt to warn him of the look on Gandalf's face. "I know perfectly well he doesn't like being yelled at, Ori. I am going to yell anyways! What else do you know, and why have you never once been completely truthful with us?"

Radagast's eyebrows shot up, jaw dropping. "We didn't mean to not b-"

"You are lying," Bilbo shot back without looking at him, still glaring at Gandalf. "And you don't even really know it. Even when we were attempting the disastrous journey to reclaim Erebor, he would disappear and come back days later, still aware of what had happened without any contact with us. He has always done this."

Gandalf closed his eyes, fingers tightening around his staff. "Enough, Bilbo Baggins."

"Then for once in my knowing you," Bilbo breathed through his nose, exhaling carefully. "Tell the truth. Where have you been, why were you gone, and why do you still know what's happening surrounding us?"

Opening his eyes again, Gandalf gestured for the shorter man to sit down, waiting until he had sat down next to his nephew before speaking again.

"I have, regrettably, been kept away for longer than I had hoped to be." Gandalf sighed, then turned to look at Ori. "I have heard about your brother and his run in with Saruman. I am aware of his presence on this plane, and I am not pleased with it."

"He didn't attack, he handed over a book." Ori shrugged, then motioned for him to continue.

Gandalf made a face. "Nonetheless, that is part of what has kept us away for longer than I had hoped to be gone. His arrival, Thorin's unexpected departure due to being taken from us..."

Reaching over, Radagast patted his shoulder, a half smile twisting his lips. "What he means to say," he looked up at the surrounding people, looking at each one in turn. "Is that we've discovered who too-"

"Oh god," Ori suddenly bolted into a completely upright position, breathing heavily. "It's Azog."

Bilbo's next breath was strangled, a cough following as he tried again to get air into his lungs.

"It is, isn't it?" Ori looked at the two wizards. "It's what makes sense. I was thinking about it, ever since Dwalin told me that there was growling and a blow to the head hard enough to knock him unconscious. I mean, I get that human skulls are more fragile than dwarf skulls, but still!"

Worrying at his bottom lip, Radagast nodded, fingers curling around Gandalf's shoulder comfortingly. "The last time you faced him, he was something else. You were too, but he was larger and stronger than you."

"And what is he now?" Ori wrapped his fingers around Dwalin's, his thumb soothing over the rough patch of skin that had several scars on it underneath the tattoos.

Gandalf looked up, letting out a breath. "He's human."

"We think." Radagast added, eyes locking on to a spot on the wall, not straying from it until Gandalf tapped his side to get his attention. "We're still not terribly sure if he is, not completely."

"Not sure if he's hu-" Ori's jaw dropped, blinking a few times. "Why aren't you sure?"

Radagast shrugged, head tilting to the side. "He's overall human looking. I don't think, however, that this is what we should be discussing." He gestured to Bilbo, who was currently sitting in his chair like he had no spine, seconds from falling out of it onto the floor.

Someone cleared their throat, gathering the attention of everyone in the room.

"Um...Hi." The blonde teenager waved when he saw everyone looking at him, a nervous smile on his face. "So my dad has told me what's happening, I'm pretty sure I could be useful in this endeavor, and I kind of want to help."

"What's your name?" Dwalin looked him over, frowning again.

The boy grinned, a hand going up to brush hair behind his slightly pointed ear. "Technically, I'm Tristram Lundgren, but you would probably know me better as Legolas Greenleaf. I intentionally picked a best friend who would get my father's memories back." After a moment under close scrutiny by the aforementioned parent, he shrugged, then turned to Gandalf and Radagast. 

"Hello Gandalf. I pledge to help in whatever way I can."

"You may help," Gandalf smiled, then turned to Bilbo. "By helping us plot a rescue. We face an old enemy, surrounded by others, reaching far back in time."

Legolas nodded, then turned on his heel and headed for the door, grabbing his dad on the way out. "We are going to return in a while, he and I need to talk first. I also may need my bow."

"...You're an archer? Again?" Frodo raised an eyebrow.

Looking over his shoulder, Legolas laughed. "First place in the competition that happened last week."

 

XxXxX

 

Ori sighed, watching as Dwalin limped across the room, then rolled his eyes. "I know you're you, I know that you don't like being injured and pulled out of the fight, but could you please sit down?"

When he only got a grunt in reply, he reached forward and grabbed the back of his boyfriend's shirt, dragging him carefully onto the couch, then lay his legs across the larger man's knees. "I said sit." he muttered, nuzzling into Dwalin's chest as he made himself comfortable, avoiding the bandage wrapped around one arm and the boot on his left leg. "You're just going to make it worse if you aggravate it."

Dwalin opened his mouth to speak, only Ori got there first. "And yes, hopping about the room and bouncing the sprained ankle repeatedly counts as aggravating it."

"It jus' doesn' feel right ta let the rest o' ya take on Azog without being there meself." Dwalin grumbled, wrapping his uninjured arm around Ori. "I'd like ta see him dead again, far away from us."

Propping his chin on Dwalin's chest, Ori smiled. "There's no reassuring you that we'll all be fine, is there?"

"The last time I let ya out o' my sight," Dwalin pressed his fingers into Ori's side, stroking carefully at the skin that was exposed by his shirt riding up. "Ya died and I lost my brother."

"Well, that wasn't Azog." Ori kissed his cheek, brushing his face against Dwalin's carefully, avoiding the scratches. "And I don't have any intention of dying this time. I've got something to come back to, and I refuse to be pulled away from that. I won't let myself die."

"If yeh'd let me jus' -"  
"No, Dwalin." Ori sighed, then shook his head. "I don't want you hurt anymore than you already are."

Dwalin frowned, an eyebrow raised. "Why do I get the feelin' that yeh're hidin' somethin'?"

"I-" Ori took a deep breath, shrugging his shoulders before continuing. "If you're out there, it gives Azog a chance to take you away too, and I don't think I could deal with it. No offense meant to Bilbo, but I think I'd have a reaction akin to his when he found out that Thorin had been taken. He kind of shut down, and even now he's still not reacting to things in a calm and rational way and I don't think I could handle it if you were taken from me like that."

"So yeh're trying to lock me away to keep me safe?" A small smile on his lips, Dwalin laughed, a quiet snicker at first that quickly turned into a full blown fit. "Mahal, I had forgotten how protective yeh were."

Ori sputtered, cheeks flushing a brilliant red color. "I am not-"

"Yeh are. Yeh so are." Dwalin chuckled, kissing him softly. "Yeh react to threats against yeh and yehrs by ampin' up how threatenin' yeh are, and with me injured, yeh're becomin' overprotective to the point of hidin' me away."

When Ori ducked his head to hide his face against Dwalin's chest, The larger man laughed again, stroking his hair and running careful fingers along the braid he wore next to his ear. "No no, it's cute." he assured him, a grin on his face.

"Shut up." Ori muttered, tangling their fingers together, then kissed each of Dwalin's knuckles.

Dwalin smirked, then turned onto his side and let Ori slide down to lay next to him. "Never."

"Y'know, I'm not sure whether or not it's worse for you two to be dressed when you're laying flat on a couch together." Nori drawled from the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and one eyebrow raised. "I mean, on one hand, it's my little brother and it's a relief to not see you two doing what you do, but on the other, it means you're being all cute and cuddly and I'm not sure the amount of testosterone in me is sufficient to deal with it."

Ori rolled his eyes, then flipped his brother off. "Yeah well, see what happens next time you and Bofur are in the same room, see what I say then."

"Alright then." Nori rolled his eyes right back at his brother, then smirked. "Mind running to the store? You've used up all the sap, we need a new jar."

"You are yeh ain't the one who used it?" Dwalin growled, tightening his arm around Ori.

Nori snorted, then shrugged. "Oi, no ganging up on me. Anyways, we're gathering in the kitchen, around the table. Upright and hands in sight, please."

Waiting until his brother left the room, Ori helped Dwalin stand, allowing the larger man to lean his weight on him. Crossing the room slowly, the two of them made it into the kitchen with only a few missteps along the way.

 

XxXxX

 

"Dwalin?"

The man looked up from where he had been keeping an eye on Ori, an eyebrow raised. "Yeah?"

Gandalf gestured to the rest of the group, motioning for him to pay attention. "If you could, perhaps, relate the events that led to Thorin being taken away?"

"Not much ta tell," he shrugged, then glanced at Bilbo for a second. "We were walkin', headed ta the school ta pick up Frodo, from my car. We turned a corner, walked a little bit more, and the next thing I knew, I was whacked over the head and there was angry growlin' and a voice I didn't recognize. I heard draggin', and then I blacked out. Next thing I knew, I was in the hospital." 

Dwalin curled his fingers around Ori's, rubbing a thumb over the back of his hand. "Only reason I really know it's Azog is because you two came in and said it."

Radagast frowned, then pulled a small stack of papers from the bag he was wearing over his shoulder. "Alright, there's where I fill in." He took a deep breath, then stood and set them on the table, spreading them out. "Azog, in this life, is named Mstislav Brannig, and he runs a company that is sort of a rival to Thorin's. We've been gone for the last couple of days because we've been researching him."

Nodding, Gandalf spread a hand to indicate the papers on the table. "He's a ruthless businessman, refusing to allow anyone he doesn't approve of to run unchecked. I fear that may have led to his decision to capture Thorin in the first place, but then he regained his memories and we are faced with the problem we see here. They started out as rival companies, but the moment he regained his memories, he started to plot to destroy the Dwarven King he once sought to kill."

Bilbo stood up, leaning over the table to look at the papers as well, brow furrowed angrily. "He wants him dead because they work for different companies?"

"I would say, Mister Baggins," Radagast smiled somewhat goofily. "That it has less to do with the business aspect of it and more to do with the fact that it's Thorin and Azog, and Azog has a mind twisted enough to focus singularly on your boyfriend and his death."

Smaug lay his hand on Bilbo's shoulder, trying to calm the man down and sit him back in his seat. "So there are two reasons, two motives, at play here. He wishes for his death so that he may have his revenge, as well as that it would allow his company to come out on top."

"It would also leave Fili and Kili without their uncle ta train them in how ta lead it when it's time." Balin spoke up for the first time, worrying at the edge of his lip. "Without a competent leader at the helm, the company would drop out of the public's eye for however long it took to get them trained to lead it. And I for one, am willin' ta bet that there would be an assassination attempt in the meantime."

"We can't jus' go inta this half cocked," Dwalin added, reaching with his free hand to pat reassuringly at the boy's shoulders. Fili, looking a little green in the face, wrapped an arm around his brother. "If we approach too quickly, or too heavily, he may jus'-" he motioned at his neck, a grim expression on his face. "And no one, not a one, wants that."

Fili coughed, then looked over at the wizards, clenching his brother's hand. "It would make sense. Separate out the young heirs, then, when everything's in chaos and disorder, destroy them. And if he wants the company completely out of sorts, what better way than making sure that uncle turns up dead somewhere?" When Kili whimpered, Fili immediately turned to him, making soft shushing sounds. "We're only sixteen and eighteen, we'd not survive something like that, not with the entire company relying on us. We'd fail, and at best we'd drop out of view. At worst, he might send one of his people in to take over or buy us out."

"In one neat go, he'd have us dead and our company destroyed..." Kili muttered, tucking his head against Fili's arm. "I don't know much, barely anything about running the place. Mom isn't in the business, and Balin would have his hands full with us."

Frodo stood up, scurrying around the table and hugging both of them. "Uncle won't let it happen."

"Exactly." Bilbo nodded once, the anger in his eyes lighting up his entire face, his body tense. "He won't ever get the chance to kill Thorin, that's not going to happen in the first place."

Gloin spoke up suddenly, resting a hand on the table. "I can start circulating a picture of Azog's current face, make it so that the news stations are on alert about him being loose and dangerous and holding a CEO hostage." when he looked to Bilbo, then Balin, he nodded. "I'll get started on that." Standing to go, Oin followed him. "Nobody go anywhere alone, alright? We don't know how many people he has working on this and we don't want him to have another hostage to work with."

Waiting until he got an affirmative from everyone in the room, he left.

"Well," Dori began, looking over at his brothers, then at their respective partners. "It's fairly obvious how things are going to break off for some of us, but I know I would feel better if Fili and Kili had more than just each other."

Nori raised a hand, then shrugged when everyone looked at him. "According to work schedules, Bofur and I have the easiest time taking off on short notice, we can watch over them and make sure that no one snags the youngest three."

"Yeah," Bofur smiled, twining their fingers together. "We'll watch over the lads, watch over Bilbo as well, make sure that the four of them don't get snatched."

Bilbo nodded, then pulled out his phone, nudging slowly at the buttons. "I'm going to insist on checking in by phone." he muttered, face relaxing slightly at the noises of agreement that followed.

"There is not a single one of us that wants to be snatched away." Ori pulled out his own phone, setting it on the table. "And there's not a single one of us, I think, that wants the others to be grabbed either."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I have to ask something of you guys.
> 
> If you seriously enjoy this, I need you to tell me in some way. It only takes a few seconds to push the kudos button. 
> 
> I hate to say it, but I have considered quitting this story because it feels like no one is reading it, which stresses me out because it means I'm a shit writer and then my brain goes "No one likes you."
> 
> So please, if you could leave a comment, leave a kudos?
> 
> Even if you're telling me to fuck off because I am a horrible writer, then I at least know.


	4. The Eerie Chill Down Your Spine

With a deep breath, Bofur leaned against the wall, a hand pressed against his chest. 

"What are we even doin'?" he muttered, clenching his free hand tightly around his shirt, wrinkling it. "We're not dwarves anymore, we shouldn't be- "

"Bofur?"

Nori laid a hand on Bofur's shoulder, turning him slightly so that their foreheads were pressed together. "Are you alright?"

With a snort, he shook his head slightly. "What are we even doin'? We're not going to survive this, not with the way things are going." At Nori's look, he shook his head again, firmly this time. "Really, we're not. Most of us have had even the slightest connection to being warriors, the tenuous ones we had back then, removed completely by some aspect of this life." 

"You are," Nori pressed a finger to his lips, curling his other hand into Bofur's hair, meeting his eyes and holding his gaze. "The most badass of men that I have ever met. I've said this before, I will say it again, as many times as you need to hear it. You make play of knives, you use them to make crafty and cute things. You refused to be scared of Gollum when he had us trapped in the cafe." Smiling, Nori nuzzled their noses together for a second. 

"I'm scared now." Bofur whispered, looking away.

Tipping Bofur's head around until their eyes met again, Nori smiled even wider. "And you think that makes you less brave somehow?"

Startled, Bofur stood up straighter, eyebrows raised. "What?"

"You're admitting that you're scared right now, but you're still here." Nori shrugged, then licked his lips nervously. "You're still standing your ground against the terror of facing Azog and possibly his army again. And yes, I know it's terrifying. We found out who we're facing, I nearly ran away."

Bofur nodded, face relaxing as the tension of his shoulders disappated. "Why didn't you?"

"Because even though I'm a coward, I was watching you and your brother and your cousin and not a one of you backed down. Not now, not back then." Nori grinned, eyes lighting up. "You three didn't even see that it was a possibility. You put yourselves to a task and you held steady and you never once thought to run away."

"You're not running because of me?" Bofur laughed, wrapping their hands together. "You're admitting that you're scared, but you're still here because of me."

"You're brave." Nori shrugged, kissing the tips of the other man's fingers. "And it's part of why I love you."

"I-" Bofur turned a bright red color, the tip of his nose standing out from amongst the moustache. "I love you too."

"Now, seeing as we're on babysitting duty of three troublemakers, possibly four, we should probably make sure that Fili and Kili don't burn down the house." Nori turned, their fingers still twined together. 

Bofur rolled his eyes, then followed Nori, leaning in to nuzzle at his shoulder. "Oh, see, it ain't fair of you to stereotype Frodo that way."

"Who said anything about Frodo?" Nori raised an eyebrow, brushing one of his braids out of his face. "I meant Bilbo."

"That's true," Bofur smiled as they rounded a corner, nearly running into Kili. The lad paused, looked at their hands, then turned on his heel and ran back to his brother, nearly knocking the blonde over, a large grin on his face. "But I recall it may have been partially my fault at times. Partially their fault too." with those words, he gestured at the boys who chose that moment to run up the stairs.

When Nori leaned down to see the top of the stairs, he spotted the black curls that gave away Frodo's location. He was crouched at the top of them, speaking quietly with Fili and Kili. "I may have spoken too soon about Frodo not being a troublemaker sometimes." he muttered.

Bofur laughed, tugging him the opposite way, towards the kitchen again. "C'mon. No reason we can't work on a rescue plan with Bilbo while we're waiting for the police to do their jobs. I have a feeling that this whole thing may be resolved in a matter of hours. While we wait, actually."

"Oh I hope so," Nori grinned again. "I don't think Bilbo is going to stand for Thorin being gone much longer, he may do something rash."

 

XxXxX

 

When Gloin called, Nori was the one who managed to pick up the phone first, answering almost breathlessly, chest tightening in panic when the other man's voice was tired and full of worry.

"What do you mean, 'Not there'?" he swallowed, barely able to speak around the lump in his throat. "What- "

Cutting off, he frowned, shifting so that Bilbo wouldn't see his face through the doorway and across the room. "Wait, Gloin, hold on." he wiped at his brow, rubbing at the pinched bit of skin between his eyes. "You're saying that Azog isn't anywhere he normally is? Where the hell else could he possibly be?"

A pause, then, "I see. How do I tell everyone?"

Nori walked back into the room where Bilbo and the rest sat, a harried look on his face as he moved closer. "Has anyone heard anything?"

Looking up, Bilbo shook his head. "No, not a single word, why?"

"Because you should have. Turn on the news." 

Wordlessly, Bofur handed over the remote and waited until Bilbo flipped to the right channel, then watched in growing horror as the news said the very last thing any of them wanted to hear.

"-just joining in, a police raid on the building suspected to hold the CEO of Heirabore turned up nothing, according to police. Again, the man reported to have taken Thomas Oberlin is none other than rival company owner, Mstislav Brannig. Reasons for the kidnapping are unknown, but sources say that it may be due to a psychotic episode."

When everyone in the room turned to look at Bilbo, there seemed to be a collective deep breath as they all noticed the pale color of his face. "They haven't found him. They're looking for him, but they haven-" Bilbo cut himself off, frowning as he looked down. 

Pulling his cellphone from his pocket, thumbing carefully over the buttons, he gasped.

"Bilbo?" Fili looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Is everything..." he thought about his words for a moment, then settled on "Okay?"

"Azog just texted me." Bilbo held up his phone so that everyone could see it, the wildness in his eyes in no way diminished. "He sent me 'Isn't the news amusing? Come find me, we'll see how loyal to your king you are.' He's sent me an address."

"Yeh are not goin'." Dwalin frowned, hand clenching around the edge of the table. "Not a chance in all o' the seven hells are we lettin' ya go."

"Yeah, well, it's probably not a good idea to ignore the psychopathic former-Orc who has my boyfriend kidnapped right now." Bilbo shot back, standing quickly and pushing his chair away from the table with the backs of his knees. "I refuse to stay here. I may have once been a Baggins of BagEnd, but now is not the time for being a skulking coward."

"You need-" Bofur started, only to lean back and away when the smaller man snarled at him. 

"I will not let him die because you lot refuse to let me go!"

Bofur stood, pressing a hand against Bilbo's shoulder. "Calm down, lad. I was just going to say that at the very least, I am going with you. You need to not go alone."

"I suppose that means I need to play the part of a hero as well?" Nori stood, clasping Bofur's hand. "I'm going too."

Grinning, Bofur looked around the table. "Anyone else?"

"I'm not the type to let my younger brothers go alone anywhere." Dori stood, crossing his arms over his chest. "So I suppose I am as well."

"Me!" Ori shot a hand up, nuzzling Dwalin's shoulder apologetically. "Dwalin has to stay here, but then he and Balin can form our base of operations and keep in contact with everyone."

Dwalin grumbled at that, but then nodded. "He's right." Turning to his brother, he sighed. "Too injured ta go much o' anywhere."

"And I suppose I'm too old." Balin shrugged. "Suits me, I'll keep an eye on my brother, we'll keep contact between the group that goes to rescue Thorin and the police, where Gloin currently is."

"Then I am staying as well."

Balin immediately turned, then flushed slightly as he noticed Oin looking at him. "Very well."

"You get no say in where I go," Oin continued, smirking slightly. "So I choose to stay right here with you."

"Alright guys," Kili muttered, "Save the flirting for later."

Fili grinned widely at that. "We're going too."

"No!" Almost everyone in the group responded, Bilbo's voice rising above the rest.

Frodo sighed. "I'm staying here. Fili and Kili and I can help make food for when everyone gets back."

"Wait," Fili leaned forward, making a grabbing motion at Bilbo's cellphone. "What's the address he texted you?"

Without hesitation, Bilbo showed him the screen, frowning when the teenager snarled at it. "What's wrong?"

"That bastard," Fili began, gritting the words out through his teeth and dragging his hand through his hair, "Took uncle to our cabin."

"Wait, our cabin?" the look of hurt and fear on Kili's face was obvious, his eyes wide as he started hyperventilating. "Where we go during the summer sometimes?"

"Yeah." Fili petted at his brother's hair, trying to calm him down slightly. "It'll be alright Kee, we'll...I don't know what we'll do, but it'll be alright." Turning to the adults in the room, he sighed. "Looks like we have to go with you. It's hard to find unless you've been there before."

"Wait, why 'we'?" Nori shook his head. "To minimize danger for everyone, we should just take one of you, and I would say it should be Fili."

"We are both going," Fili cracked his knuckles "Because I refuse to leave my sixteen year old brother here when it's possible that this is a distraction to get the adults out of the house that are going and then have Azog's minions attack and get several of us because the ones left behind can't fight."

"And then, if you two are going, I'm going too." Frodo shrugged when everyone looked at him. "No offense to everyone, but I agree with his logic and I don't feel like being kidnapped."

"...I guess they're going with us then." Bilbo looked across the room to meet Dwalin's eyes. "While I have no doubt that you're still formidable, you're hurt and anyone can see it. If someone got into the house, you're slowed down by your ankle and- "

"Everyone o' the little ones are in danger." Dwalin nodded. "Guess they're going with yeh."

Sighing, Nori nodded. "Everyone who's going, get ready now. We're going to head out and put out obvious signs that the cabin is where it is when we get there, and I'm going to text Gloin on the way so that he has the address and he can keep our dumb asses alive."

 

XxXxX

 

Bofur stifled a grin, shrugging apologetically when Bilbo looked at him in the rearview mirror. 

On their way out the door, Ori had come running out of the house, flinging himself into a seat in one of the cars before his brother could object, buckling himself in and holding on so that no one could pull him out. 

True to form, Nori had pitched a fit, arguing that his little brother couldn't possibly come with them, it was going to be dangerous and possibly deadly and there were enough people at risk as it was. Ori had calmly told his brother where he could shove it, stating that Dwalin had encouraged him to go in his stead to make sure that his cousin was alive and well. 

Currently, the two of them were arguing with each other, voices raised to an almost unbearably loud level as they fought. 

Fili, apparently, had had enough.

"Would you two, please, be QUIET!" he snarled, turning around in his seat to glare at them. "I'm not going to have Bilbo turn this car around, but I will do something horribly to your beds if you don't stop arguing right now! Ori came with us last time, when he was younger than Kili, and you two allowed it then."

"That was different, that was- "

"A lot more dangerous than this!" Fili shot back, glaring at the older man. "Back then there was more than just a crazy orc trying to kill us, there was a dragon, there were elves, there were goblins, there was a lot more to the adventure, and a longer distance to travel."

Ori grinned at the teen, then turned to his brother. "You're my family, and I love you, I do, but if you continue to treat me like a child I will cut all ties and disappear into the wind. You will never see me again."

"I just want you to survive." Nori muttered, looking guiltily down at his knees. "You didn't last time. You died too early."

"...Oh." Kili looked between them. "Is this about how he died?"

Nori looked out the window instead of responding. 

"I'm not going to die that early this time." Ori reached out and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I'm not watching over   
Balin's tomb, and we're not retrieving Moria. There's not an army bearing down on us, and I swear, I'm not going to let that happen again."

Frodo leaned forward from the backseat, resting his chin between Nori and Bofur's shoulders, chin digging into the seat. "I think we're all different people now, even if we're still kind of the same. We've, at the very least, learned from screwing up."

Bofur reached down and took Nori's hand, leaning into his side to whisper in his ear. "We aren't going to let that happen again. Not a one of us. I do believe that Ori's right, though. Loosen the reins a little."

"But he's my little brother." Nori sighed, then turned until they faced each other, breathing in the man's scent and closing his eyes in contentment. "It's a habit and I had to live with having lost the ability to give him burial rights. Dori died shortly afterwards, so I remained, having outlived both of my brothers."

"I know." Bofur kissed his nose, then returned to their previous position. "And ta think, you were the one with the shortest life expectancy in the first place."

Making a face, Nori laughed. "You're horrible sometimes."

"I know." Bofur shrugged. "You still lo- "

He cut off as the car lurched, everyone being thrown against their seatbelt as it came to a halt with a loud screech of the brakes.

"Sorry!" Bilbo exclaimed breathlessly, gasping for air. "It's just..."

"We found Smaug." Fili continued when the older man trailed off. "Bofur, could you pop the side door and let him in?"

Bofur nodded, moving quickly to let the irritated man into the car.

Smaug growled as he sat down, pulling something from a pocket. "I got a message on my mobile, the wretched bastard dared to text me and taunt me."

"What did he text you?" Kili leaned closer to him, looking at the screen. 

Motioning for Bilbo to continue driving, Smaug snarled. "He texted me 'Come out and play, overgrown lizard.' He has the audacity to think that he can take Thorin from you and yours, and then that he can say that to me?"

Kili smiled. "We're on our way to where he is. We know where he has uncle."

"I am aware of that, as well." Smaug breathed slowly through his nose, pupils contracting into slits. "He sent me the address I was heading to. I am assuming you know it?"

"We do, yeah." Fili filled in from the front seat. "It's our summer cabin. Uncle takes us hunting and fishing when he feels like taking a day or three off and letting out mom run the company on her own for a bit. She does the same thing with him, and when we're the ones running it, we'll do it too."

"No single reigning partners in Heirabore." Smaug looked between the younger set of brothers, jaw gaping slightly. "Tell me, do your mother and uncle help control each other's temper?"

"Yeah, sometimes." Kili piped up, "She also argues against stuff when she thinks he's just doing it or saying it because he's being 'a stubborn ass' and she wants him to think rationally."

"I believe that they may be correcting the way in which Thorin went wrong last time." Smaug grinned, pointed teeth showing in his smile. "It is a relief to hear of the ways that your uncle is correcting himself this time."

Fili stiffened in his seat, directing Bilbo to make a turn. "Here. We might need to pull over and park soon, what if Azog hears our engine?"

"He knows we're coming." Nori shook his head. "May as well tell him we're here."

"He knows that Bilbo is coming." Ori shot back, frowning. "We don't know what happens if he hears the car and sees the entire group of us."

Frodo looked up from his phone. "We're waiting for Gloin to catch up with us, and I just sent out a text for backup of a different kind."

"Wait, who did you contact?" Smaug looked at him, head tilted. 

"The rest of everyone in this car might not trust him, but I do." Frodo explained, then sighed. "I texted Legolas. Weird sentence, I know, but he's still an archer and he knows what's happening, and he's kind of my friend, and I think he's a good person to have here."

Shrugging, Fili unbuckled. "May as well. He helped you last time. You gave him exact directions?"

"Yeah, didn't want him to get lost in the forest." Frodo assured the other boy. "I think we should get out of the car and let uncle continue driving in. That way, Azog sees uncle and only uncle, and we still have the advantage of surprise."

"Yes, good." Bofur nodded, popping his seatbelt buckle open before reaching around his boyfriend to do the same to him. "I don't want to take any chances when it involves lives. I agree with Frodo."

Nori bit his lip, then sighed. "May as well."

With that, the group of them left the car, pushing through trees and bushes to stay off the main path. Fili led the group, holding his brother's hand to keep him from panicking too much.

 

XxXxX

 

Nori sighed, leaning against a tree as the group waited for Bilbo to drive up to the cabin. "This still feels like a trap." he muttered, perking up slightly at the sound of the car engine coming up the path.

"I know." Fili whispered, looking between the trees to try and see anyone standing in the cabin. So far, he hadn't seen anyone wandering around, but a quick glance had revealed that the lock on the back door had been broken open and that Azog had apparently come here either alone or with very few people. "But what else are we supposed to do? The police are coming, with Gloin as their lead, and they wouldn't be able to understand what's happening."

Frodo held out his phone, an excited look on his face. "Legolas is about five minutes from here, I've given him instructions on how to get to where we are."

"Good." Fili nodded, then looked back at the cabin. "I wish I could see anything, even a shadow. We're basically going in blind here, and it's not a fun feeling to think that Azog could have..." he trailed off into an ugly silence, refusing to say what it was that Azog could have done to his uncle.

Ori put a hand on his arm, a tight smile on his face. "It'll be alright."

"I hate it when adults do that." Kili muttered. "Nothing against you, Ori, but when adults say things like that, it always means the opposite."

"Or they mean that you've fucked up, but it will still work. You're still going to know you messed up, but no one else will." Fili added, slinging an arm around his brother's shoulders. "It tends to mess with your head, that does."

Kili tucked his hair behind his ears, eyes slightly watering. "I want uncle to be alright."

"How about this?" Smaug stepped forward, towards the three teenage boys. "I swear to you, on the heart within my body and the memories in my mind, I will do everything I can possibly do to keep your uncle alive and well while we lay siege to this cabin and extract him."

Considering it for a moment, both Fili and Kili nodded. "I like that promise." Kili whispered, tugging on his brother's hair. "S'good."

"Yeah." Fili grinned, then turned when there was a rustling in the bushes.

Legolas hurried into sight, hands raised. "Don't shoot, please. I would prefer it if I didn't get injured while amongst friends."

"Every last one of the teenagers has a vocabulary that is much larger than their age would seem to allow." Ori muttered to Nori, then smiled. "I like it when that happens."

Behind them, laughter erupted from the cabin, a loudly echoing sound, as if a madman were the one making it.

Everyone turning around in a panic, Ori spotted Bilbo scurrying back to his car, a welted bloody spot on his cheek and a hand clutching at his side.

"I have a feelin'," Nori breathed, fear in his voice. "That some things have gone wrong."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I now know how this story is going to end and there's probably only going to be a few chapters left. 
> 
> (Of course, now that I've said that, watch it become another fifty...)  
> Again, leave a review, a kudos, whatever you want, just tell me if you like it or not.


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